watchOS 26 introduces four new watch faces, updates to existing faces like Photos with new design options and support for seconds in always-on mode, and a new 'hints' feature that offers proactive app suggestions directly on the watch face, enhancing customization and usability.
This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to set up and pair a new Apple Watch, including unboxing, choosing language and region, pairing with an iPhone, setting preferences, and updating software to ensure optimal performance.
The article provides expert tips to enhance your Apple Watch experience, including customizing watch faces, utilizing health features like Vitals, gestures like Wrist Flick, managing notifications with Smart Stack, using the watch as a flashlight, pausing exercise rings, bypassing workout countdowns, and force-quitting apps, to maximize productivity, health monitoring, and convenience.
watchOS 26 introduces significant health features for Apple Watch, including hypertension notifications that analyze blood vessel response to detect potential high blood pressure, and a new sleep score that simplifies sleep data by evaluating duration, bedtime, and interruptions to provide an overall sleep quality rating.
The article provides instructions on how to enable the new 'Wrist Flick' gesture feature in Apple's watchOS 26, enhancing user interaction with the Apple Watch.
Apple has released watchOS 26, introducing features like Sleep Score, Workout Buddy, Hypertension Alerts, new watch faces, and a Liquid Glass design, compatible with Series 6 and later, enhancing health, personalization, and user experience.
watchOS 26 introduces four new Apple Watch faces for the Ultra, with Waypoint standing out as the most useful and attractive, offering rich location data and customization, while other faces like Flow and Exactograph offer simpler or more specialized displays.
Apple's new hypertension alert feature, cleared by the FDA, will be available on Watch Series 9, Ultra 2, and later models with watchOS 26 starting September 15, using optical heart sensor data to monitor blood pressure over 30 days and notify users of high blood pressure signs in over 150 countries.
Apple is releasing watchOS 26 with four new watch faces featuring the Liquid Glass design, including Exactograph, Flow, Waypoint (exclusive to Apple Watch Ultra), and Hermès Faubourg Party, along with updates to the Photos face and new features like AI Workout Buddy and Live Translation, available from September 15 for compatible devices.
Apple's new Sleep Score feature, introduced at the 'Awe Dropping' event, is compatible with Apple Watch Series 6 and later, including SE (2nd generation) and all Ultra models, when paired with iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26. The feature assesses sleep quality based on various factors and is based on extensive sleep data and expert guidance. It is not exclusive to the latest models, making it accessible to a broader range of users with compatible devices.
The Apple Watch Series 11 introduces deeper health features like hypertension alerts and improved battery life, with minimal design changes from the previous model, while the Watch SE 3 gains an Always On Display and faster charging, offering compelling options across the lineup.
Apple is launching new health features like hypertension notifications and sleep score to older Apple Watch models with the upcoming watchOS 26 update, expanding access beyond the latest devices and including features that analyze blood pressure and sleep quality using existing sensors.
Apple announced that iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26, and visionOS 26 will be released on September 15, featuring a new Liquid Glass design language and updated version numbering aligned with release years. Compatibility varies by device, with the latest models and select older devices able to upgrade. The release coincides with the launch of the new iPhone 17 lineup and other hardware, while tvOS 26's release date is still pending.
Apple is expanding its hypertension alert feature to older Apple Watch models including Series 9, Series 10, Ultra 2, and Ultra 3 with the upcoming watchOS 26 update, allowing users to receive health insights related to high blood pressure based on data from the optical heart sensor.